Obama’s Copenhagen Speech: Some Reactions

For all the expectations that President Barack Obama’s appearance at the Copenhagen climate conference could part the waters and break the deadlock, his 8-minute speech thrilled nobody.

Granted, he met beforehand with a score of world leaders, and a dozen more at lunch—not to mention an hour-long one-on-one with the Chinese premier in between—but his speech left plenty of frustration inside Copenhagen’s Bella Center and without.

Here’s a smattering of reactions to the speech:

The Guardian (U.K.): “In the absence of any evidence of that commitment the words rang hollow and there was a palpable sense of disappointment in the audience […] The lacklustre speech proved a huge frustration to a summit that had been looking to Obama to use his stature on the world stage – and his special following among African leaders – to try to come to an ambitious deal.” …